A Promise
by WinterSky101
Summary: Roy may be a clone, but he's still one of Kaldur's best friends, and Kaldur is going to make sure he knows that. Post-1.26 (Auld Acquaintance).


After everything, Roy goes back to Star City with Green Arrow and Black Canary. Kaldur knows him well enough to know this won't last, though. Sure enough, two days later, Green Arrow comes to the mountain, asking if anyone has seen Roy. No one has, but Kaldur thinks he knows where to go.

He doesn't tell Green Arrow. He knows he only wants the best for his former protégé, but Kaldur doesn't know how well Green Arrow can reach Roy now. Perhaps it is hubris, but Kaldur thinks he can reach him better.

Kaldur takes one of the Zeta tubes to Star City. He knows where Roy's equipment cache is, and it's the only place Roy could stay where no one would find him. He's used them to hide from the Justice League before, and Kaldur thinks he'll probably use one to hide again.

Roy's Star City cache is in a storage unit in a somewhat seedier part of the city. Kaldur heads to it, following the numbers on the units until he reached Roy's.

He knocks on the door gently when he finds it. "Roy? It's me."

There's no response, but Kaldur can hear something moving inside. The door is locked, but it's simple enough to push some water into the lock and form it into the shape of the key. The lock opens with a soft click, and Kaldur pulls the front of the storage unit open.

Roy is inside, clutching his bow too tightly to properly use it, eyes wide like a frightened animal. "What are you doing here?" he hisses at Kaldur the second he sees him.

"We were worried about you," Kaldur replies gently. "Green Arrow told me that you fled. I thought you would be here."

"Did you tell the others?" Roy demands.

"No."

Roy relaxes a little. "So it's just you?"

"It is just me," Kaldur agrees, spreading his hands to show that he isn't holding any weapons. Even if he had one, he wouldn't ever use it on Roy, but considering the week they've had, Kaldur can't blame him for being a little paranoid.

Roy lowers his bow. "Why are you here?"

Kaldur takes a step forward. He does it carefully, so Roy doesn't feel cornered, although he tries to keep it casual. "I am worried about you, Roy."

Roy's face twists. "I'm not- Don't call me that."

"Call you what? I do not understand."

"Don't call me Roy. I'm not him." Roy's voice is bitter. "I'm just a clone."

"Maybe," Kaldur allows, "but you are still my friend."

"I almost destroyed the Justice League."

"Unwittingly and unwillingly."

"But I still did it," Roy spits. "I may not have known what I was doing, but that only makes me more dangerous."

"M'gann made sure to remove all the Cadmus programming from your head, just as she did with Connor," Kaldur replies. "You are no longer controlled by them, Roy."

"Stop calling me that!"

"What would you rather I call you?" Kaldur asks. "Roy is the only name for you I have ever used."

Roy doesn't answer for a long moment. Kaldur has the feeling that, as vehemently as he may be against the name Roy, he hasn't chosen a new name yet. "Just call me Red Arrow," he finally says. "At least I didn't steal that name."

"You did not know," Kaldur says gently. "You did not mean any harm."

"I'm a cuckoo," Roy - Red Arrow - says bitterly.

"A cuckoo?" Kaldur repeats. Red Arrow's tone makes it clear that he means the term as an insult, but Kaldur isn't quite sure why.

"It's a type of bird," Red Arrow explains. "The mother lays her egg in the nest of another bird, and the chicks push the other eggs out when they hatch."

"Do they mean to harm them?" Kaldur asks.

Red Arrow blinks, looking confused. "What?"

"Do the cuckoos do it out of malice, or simply because they know nothing else?" Kaldur elaborates.

"Does it matter?"

"It changes whether their actions come from cruelty or evolutionary instinct."

"I don't think it matters much to the birds who get pushed out of their nests."

"You did not push anyone out of a nest."

Red Arrow laughs bitterly. "Didn't I? Where's the real Speedy, then?"

"That was no fault of yours."

"If I hadn't been there in his place, you would have realized he was gone and rescued him," Red Arrow spits. "But instead, Cadmus probably still has him, if he's alive at all."

Kaldur sighs. "Roy-"

"I'm _not Roy_."

"Whoever you are, you are still my friend." Kaldur takes a step forward, reaching out a hand. "You are my best friend on land. None of this changes that."

Red Arrow bares his teeth. "It should."

"It does not."

"Then you're a fool."

Kaldur shrugs. "Perhaps I am, but that does not change anything either."

Red Arrow looks at him for a moment, then ducks his head and breaks eye contact. "Will you tell Green Arrow where I am?"

"No," Kaldur replies. "And even if I did, I doubt you would stay here long enough for him to find you."

"Will you tell anyone where my equipment caches are?"

Kaldur knows he probably should, but… "Not if you do not want me to."

"I don't," Red Arrow replies. "I don't want to see anyone right now."

"Does that include me?"

Red Arrow still won't meet his eyes. "Yes."

Kaldur nods. "Then I will leave," he says. "But when you are ready to talk, I will be waiting."

Red Arrow doesn't say a word as Kaldur leaves the storage unit. It's only as Kaldur is pulling the door closed that he hears him speak.

"When I'm ready to talk, I'll find you."

It's the closest to a promise that Kaldur is going to get, so he takes it. He closes the door behind him and leaves, heading for the Zeta tube entrance.

Roy may not be ready to talk now, but Kaldur hopes he will be someday. He hopes everything that's happened doesn't mean he's lost his best friend.

There are many things he cannot forgive Cadmus for, and if that happens, it will be one of them.


End file.
